1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of web retractors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Web retractors have a variety of uses including vehicle seat belt applications. The known retractors include a spring biased spool having the web wound thereon with the spool normally retracting the web. A pair of ratchet shaped end flanges are provided on the opposite ends of the spool and engage a spring biased pawl for releasably locking the spool in place. The pawl may automatically be moved apart from the ratchet shaped wheels by means of a clutch plate or manually moved and disengaged from the spool by means of a cable or lever mechanism such as shown in the commonly owned U.S Pat. No. 5,380,066.
Hand crank operated retractors are also known which utilize cable or webs to winch or secure objects together. For example, boat trailors include rotatably mounted spools having cable wound thereon with the spoon being rotatably by means of a hand crank. The end of the cable may be attached to the bow of the boat and may be pulled onto the trailer and secured thereon by cranking the spool thereby retracting the cable. Such boat trailer winches typically include a pawl which may be manually moved into and out of engagement with a sprocket attached to the spool for either locking or releasing the spool.
Disclosed herein is a web retractor having many of the features of the retractors in the seat belt industry but which has been adapted to the boat trailer environment. More particularly, the retractor disclosed herein is particularly useful in securing personal watercraft, such as a jet ski or small speed boat. Due to the light weight of the personal watercraft as compared to a regular watercraft, it is possible to pull the watercraft onto the trailer by means of our retractor and to then lock the retractor in place thereby securing the watercraft to the trailer. In the event the retractor web is placed in high tension then upon release the handle or crank may spin. We have therefore devised a handle or crank engageable with the retractor spool only during the retraction of the web. Further, we have incorporated a release lever attached directly to the pawl allowing the user to engage the release lever with one hand and the crank with the other hand.